Indonesia Vs Syria's 2023 U-20 Asian Cup Prediction: Must Be More Brave, Mental Needs To Be Improved

The Indonesian national team will face Syria in the second match of the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup. (Photo: Doc. PSSI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will face Syria in the second match of the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup Group A elimination, Saturday, March 4. This match is arguably very decisive for the steps taken by the Garuda Nusantara squad.

Losing to Iraq in the inaugural match makes Indonesia obliged to win to keep the hope of qualifying for the next round. A draw, let alone a loss, will make the Red and White team's chances of qualifying even more difficult.

Indonesia must improve if it wants to win over Syria. The quality of bait, communication and final settlement must be a concern.

The Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong, asked his team to also appear brave against Syria. He considered that Garuda Nusantara players had not appeared confident in the inaugural match.

"I ask the players to play more daring and confident than before. Surely the next match will be better," Shin said as quoted by Antara.

Shin predicts Syria will appear to attack in the match later. The reason is, the opposing team also suffered defeat in the first match against the host Uzbekistan.

The South Korean coach also asked his team to defend better. He emphasized that there should no longer be any mistakes on his own.

"We must not make our own mistakes which put us at risk", he said.

Mental is the focus of Indonesia U-20 ahead of the Syrian match. This was acknowledged by Garuda Nusantara forward Ronaldo Kwateh.

He said his team was building a mentality. "Hopefully with a good mentality, a good game will be followed," said Ronaldo.

The Madura United player said Indonesia U-20 focused on fixing its own weaknesses. He also hopes that his team can do even better in the match against Syria.

"Obviously we play more freely. The message from coach Shin also plays freely later can show what we have," he said.

Predictions of the U-20 Indonesian national team line-up:

Indonesia: Daffa Fasya, Sulthan Zaki, Muhammad Ferrari, Kakang Rudianto, Dzaky Asraf, Dony Tri Pamungkas, Hugo Samir, Ronaldo Kwateh, Achmad Maulana Syarif, Nico Alfrianto, Hokky Caraka.